AJD

Congrats! That is my favorite run of EC Comics Thanks Bill. You sold me the #20 many moons back. (thumbs u

Back here I had a small selection of aviation photos that had been used as models for comic book covers. While not exactly the same, I think there's enough similarity here to add it to the list: The artist has removed the spent cartridge collector boxes (and added the spent cartridges to the floor, where they'd be a hazard to the aircrew as they moved around - hence the boxes) and repositioned the LH gunner to be shooting rearwards rather than forwards, no doubt so the enemy aircraft could appear in the shot. Of all the non-GGA Wings covers, this one is my favourite. Must get me a copy someday. (The scan here is borrowed.)

Took me just under seven years to find the 'right' copies, but I really enjoy having this run. Believe it or not, Chuck Rozanski can take credit for putting me onto ECs in general, and these in particular. I was scratching around as a collector, buying an odd mix of SA, ducks and Australian comics and I didn't really know much about GA (or Atomic Age). In one of his newsletters back then, Chuck mentioned ECs, and described them as some of the best comics ever. (He also compared them to Fables, which I also really like, but fails to strike me as a sensible comparison, but hey...) I thought I should check them out (when has Chuck ever been wrong? ) and I bought this one on eBay: The rest, as they say, is history. Today I have 122 Ecs, including full runs of Weird Science, Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat, Aces High, Valor and Incredible Science Fiction. I'm two short of Weird Fantasy. The one thing I've never got into is their horror comics, which is a bit ironic given the role they played in cementing the publisher's name in comic infamy. I had a Tales From the Crypt #43 at one stage, but I sold it off. I guess I just don't get the genre. :shrug:

Started out on this run in April 2008, completed it this week.

Yes, absolutely right. You only have to look at how quickly the WW2 themes disappeared from comic book covers after August 1945. And the code changed everything in 1954.

Here's the feldstein sig in Weird Science Fantasy #24. Big kudos to boardie Mio for this one - he missed or forgot about the sig when he sold it but let me keep the book anyway. At least it went to a good home.

Alas, no - would have loved to, but geography dictated otherwise. My wife tracked down that copy for me (provenance is pretty good) for a birthday years ago. The Feldstein one was another second hand win - from a boardie who forgot it was there and graciously told me to keep it when i pointed it out to him and offered it back.

A few really nicely drafted images here. The Dauntless on #72 looks great and the posing is good. (Zero versus dauntless didn't usually end that way, but poetic license...) The Hurricanes on the early issue bottom right are really good (and maybe high enough to be able to pull out - not so the A-20 on #54, which is about to plow in).

As a 40 year long model builder, I find the Wings aeroplanes to be an odd mix of very accurate and wildly fanciful. On those covers the P-40 on #43 and B-17 on #44 look pretty good. On #39 the American plane is an F2F Buffalo, but the German plane seems to be nothing in particular. (It's not a Swordfish.) The Germans has a few biplane floatplanes like that, but none of them looked like that. I also don't like the perspective on a lot of the covers. To fit dueling aircraft into the cover frame, they're drawn too close and often at the wrong angles. #39 is a good example - to be hitting the tail of the Buffalo like that the German a/c would have to be in an entirely different place. Your #44 is much more realistic, but the enemy plane is drawn so small it's not immediately obvious to the eye. And some of them aircraft attacking things on the ground at dive angles that would only have one possible outcome - a smoking crater. Look at some boxtop paintings on model kits to see how a less 'comic-book' depiction of air combat looks. Don't get me wrong - I have a bunch of Wings and really like them. But they're all GGA covers, where the preposterous nature of the image is more forgivable. (Like the couple hanging from the B-25 on #92 - nice colours on that copy BTW.)

Not GA but I like this one: I have a feldstein sig on a Weird Science Fantasy too - I'll scan that later today.

Why, thank you. Here's another that arrived today. This one is kind of significant. Watch for a group shot soon.

This is a fun group of comics to own. #5 was hard to find in the right grade/price combination.

It took from April 2010 until now to get this group shot together. The first one I bought was #8, from a boardie. The others are mostly auction wins. It's a really nice group of comics to have. I've thought about getting the full 1-23 comic run, and have gone as far as getting 12, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23. I'd like to get a few more in the run too. #14's Mona Lisa cover is great, and I like the Tenniel-like Alice in Wonderland cover of #15. But I really balk at paying for the awful Wolverton cover on #11. Sorry, I just don't get that guy.

And a few Mads. This one was hard to find in decent shape at a reasonable price. The inestimable Mr Owens came through again (for all of the books in this post). And the final Mad comic book. There's a great Gopo Gossum parody in this one. I think I'll scan some of it when I get a chance. Finally, here's a Piracy #3. This one has a very good WW2 U-boat story in it, which was kind of surprising given the 'yaar me maties' style of the title.

Picked up a Weird Fantasy from Mr Bedrock too. I still need #14(2) and #7 for this title. I really like the cover on this one. A trip to the moon as imagined in 1951.

Ok, haven't done an update here for a while, and I've had a bit of a spending spree. So let's do a mid-year catch up. For a start, here's some EC sci-fi books: I showed off my Weird Science #12(1) a whle back. Here's #13(2) courtesy of Edward Owens Esq. (Thanks Ed) and #14(3) from Mr Bedrock: Finally, here's #15(5) from a MCS auction: There's one more Weird Science in the mail. Once it turns up I'll be able to post a group shot that has been seven years in the making.

that was an unexpected twist! good luck! hahaha I'll keep you guys guessing and thanks and his 1st order of business is to sell my collection to get cashflow which isn't as easy as it sounds This is an excellent start because cash flow is vital to any business. You can't eat air while waiting for that big deal. If you ever want to do this full time you'll need a steady flow of money coming in.

This one has moving parts!

Another super cover to go in already super collection of classic cover issues! At one stage I contemplated compiling a list of 'mirror image swastika' covers and then going for it. This is a classic of the genre.

That is beyond cool. Probably worth quite a bit. Where did you find it? Whoa! That's a great piece. You can see the Library of Congress entry for a print of that photo here. I see a Heritage Civil War auction in your future.

Just before the Commonwealth copies disappear into the mists of time, here's another Australian Planet. I've never seen a nicer one than this:

I had a couple, they were either British or Australian. I sold them last year, but still have a ton of Australian Bats and Supes. I have some Australian ones. Maybe you were thinking of those?

And if I could have only one Don/Maggie book, it would be this Mad #9...sincerely. Nice to know who has it. It actually holds a special place in Maggie's story. An excerpt from a Maggie interview I was reading: Toucan: Is it because of the influence of your parents that you kept reading comics as you grew older? Maggie: No, it was because comics kept being good. My interest in comics diminished until the EC line was in full flower and I bought MAD #9 off the newsstand. - See more at: http://www.comic-con.org/toucan/maggie-thompson-four-color-life-part-one#sthash.KpKlVRKq.dpuf Hey - that's so cool! Thanks for pointing that out Ed. A tiny piece of comic history here in one of my boxes.

Done - your collection of ECs for my collection of ECs. You all heard him folks. The 30 day clock is ticking now Ed.